(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to guns. More particularly, the present invention relates to semiautomatic hand guns.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It is desirable to prevent the unintentional firing of a hand gun by preheating the impacting of the firing pin against a cartridge positioned within a chamber of the gun. The unintentional firing of the gun usually occurs when the gun is mishandled or dropped. If the gun were to be accidentally dropped and the front portion of the gun were to hit the ground, the momentum of the dropped gun might be sufficient to move the hammer forwardly to impact the firing pin. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mechanism which prevents the hammer from impacting the firing pin. Even if the hammer is prevented from impacting the firing pin, a further problem exists. The firing pin has a defined mass and is usually biased away from the cartridge. However, the momemtum supplied to the firing pin by virtue of the gun being dropped may be sufficient to move the firing pin forward to impact the cartridge. Thus, it is desirable to prevent the firing pin from being moved forward.
Many conventional hand guns include safety mechanisms for the firing pin. A typical firing pin mechanism includes an engagement means in the slide of the gun which engages the pin to prevent the firing pin from moving forward. The engagement means is usually responsive to movement of the trigger. Thus, when a person seeks to intentionally fire the gun, movement of the trigger provides for disengagement of the firing pin to allow the firing pin to be moved forward.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a safety mechanism which engages the firing pin to prevent forward movement of the firing pin and which also simultaneously prevents the hammer from striking the firing pin. It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety mechanism which is relatively simple in construction.